Afghans accept peacekeeping plan

Plus: India-Pakistan tension threatens al-Qaida hunt

By

CBS.MarketWatch.com

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Afghanistan's new government agreed Sunday to a plan for foreign military actions in the coming months as tensions between Pakistan and India escalated, jeopardizing the hunt for terrorists.

British forces were among the first peacekeeping groups to enter Afghanistan, which began a temporary six-month government last week. A deal to guide the overall international effort in the Taliban aftermath stalled because of disagreement over the number of foreign troops and their duties.

Abdullah, Afghanistan's interim foreign minister who uses only one name, said U.S. airstrikes should continue "as long as there are terrorist cells" in the nation. He also said Osama bin Laden may still be in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, India and Pakistan have amassed troops along their border, threatening their fourth war against each other since 1947. A deadly terrorist attack several weeks ago in India's Parliament triggered the latest tension between the two nuclear powers. India claims Pakistan sponsored the death squad, an allegation Islamabad denies.

A peace feeler from Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was spurned Saturday by India Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Musharraf offered to hold a summit in Nepal to discuss disputes.

Underscoring the gravity of the situation, President Bush called both leaders Saturday and urged Pakistan to step up its pursuit of extremists. According to White House spokesman Scott McClellan, Bush's message to Musharraf was sharper than to Vajpayee as the president condemned the attack on India's parliament.

Bush also talked to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is scheduled to travel to the region soon.

India's war preparations extended to perhaps its most noted landmark as preparations began to drape the Taj Mahal with camouflage netting as a precaution against possible air strikes.

With opposing troops just dozens of yards apart in some areas, Indian moves to lay anti-tank mines took a deadly turn Friday. Eighteen India soldiers were killed and 12 wounded when mines detonated accidentally.

Elusive bin Laden

FBI agents have joined in the interrogation of captured al-Qaida fighters in Pakistan in hopes of gleaning information about terror leader Osama bin Laden.

Pakistan and Afghan officials said Saturday that it appears bin Laden -- believed to have orchestrated the Sept. 11 terror attacks against the U.S. -- has eluded his hunters and found sanctuary in Pakistan. Afghanistan's defense minister said Peshawar would be a likely hideout for bin Laden.

Meantime, U.S. Marines at Kandahar in southern Afghanistan prepared to receive hundreds of prisoners from Pakistan and northern Afghanistan at their detention center. Convoys were ferrying prisoners to the site Saturday. The U.S. is also holding top leaders on a ship in the Arabian Sea and will move those targeted for military tribunals to the American base at Guantanamo on Cuba.

The International Committee of the Red Cross is registering U.S. prisoners and has visited the Kandahar prison compound.

In military action, U.S. warplanes struck a building in Paktia province that the Pentagon said was "used by the Taliban." The attack comes a day after some Afghan government officials were calling for an end to U.S. bombing. The U.S. said it has not received a formal request for a bombing halt.

Yemen crackdown

Yemen said Saturday it arrested 80 foreign students and teachers at a fundamentalist Islamic institute. The school operates in an area thought to be a hotbed of support for al-Qaida. Bin Laden's group detonated a bomb in the Yemeni port of Aden against the destroyer USS Cole last year, killing 17 U.S. sailors.

Yemen has recently cracked down on possible supporters of bin Laden, with 24 soldiers and six tribesmen dying in a Dec. 18 clash.

Anthrax in Senate

In Washington, Capitol police continued an attempt to remove traces of deadly anthrax from the Hart Senate Office Building. A tainted letter to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., triggered the health scare in mid-October.

Chlorine dioxide, which kills the toxic bacteria spores, is being pumped into the building's ventilation system, carried by steam.

An Environmental Protection Agency official supervising the work said he hoped it would be the last time toxic gas would be used in the effort. An earlier gas fumigation failed to remove all traces of anthrax.

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